"It could take up to 3 months," we were told at the office in Granada last month when we finally got to hand over our British Licenses. "But, probably about a month," he added as we turned to leave."Sure, sure." I replied shaking my head at the enormous delay and time the simple exchange of documents had taken to date.But today, I was proved wrong, as I have been proved wrong on so many occasions - for in my buzon this morning sat our Spanish Driving Permisos, and a nice polite letter from Traffico welcoming us to the greater community of Spanish Drivers. After driving for over 15 years in this country on my increasingly tattered and battered British license, regularly bantering with Guardia Civil agents about the injustice of the exchange process and fighting to maintain my license as a resident in this country, I finally conceded the battle and submitted myself to the novel and rather amusing demands of the Iberian System earlier in the year.

What finally convinced me to succumb?Simply the lack of any useful I.D as a resident in this country. Since the withdrawal of ID cards for EXTRANJEROS we have been at loss as to what to produce when asked for 'Documentacion" fumbling for either our passport or a British Driving License - of which neither carry my address or any useful contact information. A silly situation to be in really. So, I now have the official doc. Will it be of any use when next I have to pay a bill, produce ID, pay on a credit card, or get pulled over once more because the Dog is leaning too far out of the window?

Only time will tell.Had a similar experience? Leave a comment or tweet me on Gazpachomonk.